Way to Dawn
by xMemoirx
Summary: When one immerses themselves in darkness, finding a way out isn't always easy. A new organization, an old friend, and three former keyblade masters...this won't be easy. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any lyrics used. Sadly... Rated T for safety.
1. Destiny Islands 1:00PM

1: Destiny Islands 1:00PM

The first sound I heard was the waves. Then the seagulls cawing happily on the beach

And footsteps... coming towards me. All I could do was pray that they hadn't come this far. I knew they weren't afraid to kill.

"Well, look who's up. You can open your eyes sleepyhead, you're not fooling anyone." Cautiously I opened my eyes. The same silver hair and aqua eyes- Riku. That did it. I couldn't be here.

"How did... how am I here?"

"You washed up on the beach about this time yesterday. What a coincidence, I was the only one here." He smiled. Riku's smile wasn't that familiar to me. I guess one doesn't smile much when they're trapped in the realm of darkness.

"I've been here since yesterday... Sora and Kairi don't know I'm here do they?"

"No I figured you'd want to introduce yourself. "

"Listen Riku, I can't be here. I'm putting you all in danger. So just let me go, and not mention to anyone that I was here. "

"Maybe you forgot, but we can defend ourselves. What's going on?"

"Nothing I can say here. "

"Well, you'll have to be able to say it somewhere close by, the way the reef beat you up." For the first time I noticed bandages around a few spots on my arms, and the long scar on my stomach. How long had that scar been there? Chances were he probably knew the reef didn't do that. I tried sitting up, which just triggered a burning pain all through my torso.

"I wouldn't try that, it might tear the cut open. Did you want to go down to the beach?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." I didn't question how he planned to get me down there; we were up in the tree house. But before I knew it, he was walking forward and scooping me up into his arms. I couldn't keep myself from blushing the slightest bit.

Now that I saw Riku up close, I noticed some changes about him. It might have been my imagination, but his eyes looked darker. Still aqua blue, but darker somehow. Maybe it's something that happens when you stay blindfolded for almost a year, trying to block out the light. Second, his silver hair was longer than I remembered, but that's to be expected when you don't cut it for such a long time.

He set me down in the sand under a paopu tree.

"So, Ciel, what've you been up to lately?"

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I hope you like it so far! Read, enjoy and review, please. :3


	2. Ace

2:Ace

Ace's eyes darted wildly around the laboratory. That must be the last of the Heartless, he thought, and sheathed his keyblade. "Sheathing" was the only word he could think of for when your weapon disappears into thin air.

Whatever. He was helping the Restoration Committee, that was all that mattered. He had grown up in Radiant Garden, a world once worthy of its name. When Ansem the Wise and his apprentices left it fell into disrepair, and was quickly overrun by Heartless. There were rumors among city officials that all the trouble had come from a 'basement laboratory' mentioned in Ansem's documents. Problem was, nobody had been able to find the place. There were some points of interest the first floor labs, but even after extensive searching, the authorities drew a blank. The thought of it all sent a chill down his spine.

But, he decided, rather than worry about all this now, he could just focus on getting back to Merlin's and collecting his pay... and ice cream. Leon always had a healthy supply of sea salt ice cream for some reason. Maybe because the "Gullwings" kept stealing all of it.

He was about to head back through Ansem's study, when he noticed a Heartless on the floor below. The lens on his headset flicked over his eye, showing his victim's stats. A large body. Perfect. It was a long way down from the balcony he was standing on. Poised like a diver, he Ace called up his keyblade, and jumped. He fell on the Heartless, and using it like a trampoline, brought it to the ground. A few more slashes and it was finished. He sheathed his keyblade and was about to start climbing back to the balcony, when he noticed an odd rectangular light on the ground. Act now, worry later. Ace stabbed the panel once, breaking the glass over it. It let out a few sparks, and blinked out. The floor shook under him, and started sliding back. He had been standing over a giant trap door the entire time! He jumped to steady ground and waited for the door to slide into place. Cautiously he peered over the edge. A spiral staircase descended eight, maybe ten floors into the ground. He'd found it. The place that not even the best detectives could find... Ansem's laboratory.

There would be no time to climb down all those floors. This was really getting old, but there wasn't much of a choice. He jumped. Ace tried his best to count the floors on his way down, but they were flicking by way too fast. He flipped in midair and landed with a thud on his feet. The bottom floor consisted of nothing but the stairwell and a white door. All logic said to climb back up the stairs and head for the police station, but something was calling to him, telling him to keep going. Besides. There was no lock a keyblade couldn't open. As soon as he held up his hand, the door slid open. No persuasion needed. He stepped through and blinked several times- the room was so bright it was blinding. Despite the black tiled floors. Was this the basement lab? It looked more like a jail than anything else. Twenty cells lined the hallway, and each was chained shut, except for the twenty-first door at the end of the hall. Ace took it all in quickly. It shouldn't be so hard just to turn and run. He'd be so famous; this historic place found by a thirteen-year-old kid. But he could feel something pulling him towards that door. This place had a kind of ancient feel to it. Like it had been asleep for years, and was waking up just to greet him. He drew his keyblade. The door shook and slid back without hesitation. The first thing he noticed about the room was the rusty blue armor lying in a pile on the ground. There was a keyblade stuck in the ground next to it. Who would just leave this lying here? Ace placed a hand on the keyblade, but before he could pull it out, the armor began to move.

A sharp pain in his chest was the last thing he felt before blacking out.

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I could've done a lot better on this chapter... oh well. I promise the next one will be better!


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